Eton College Kings Scholarship

[misstiggiwinkle]

I was wondering if anyone had any advice on the KS at Eton or has been through a similar decision making that I find ourselves faced with?

My DS has a conditional place at Eton for Sept 2028 entry. His school have recommended (more, insisted) that based on his CAT scores he should sit the Kings scholarship, giving him a more interesting route through common entrance. This is very flattering to him however strongly suspect he’d prefer to be in a ‘normal’ boarding house rather than be a scholar in College despite being academically able. Whist being ferociously bright he is very much one of the lads and down to earth with a huge interest in sport. My concern is that his school perhaps are seeking the accolade for their own benefit as I don’t think it really provides him/us with any major benefits financially or socially. Having said that I’m sure he’d embrace the challenge and stretch of the exams…

We are yet to visit the boarding houses, due in the next few months, but are being pressured to tour College ahead of this.

DS isn’t actually sold on taking up the place at Eton as most of his prep school mates are going to Radley and he loves the school. He has an unconditional place and would likely pursue an all round scholarship. They did a good job at interview stage of wooing the boys and making them feel comfortable where as Etons approach is much colder.

Any advice appreciated!

We did a similar prestigious school scholarship but we went for the College tour at Eton after gaining a place there, based on that;

• the prep school will definitely want to enter him partly for kudos. But they might also think that he will find Common Entrance quite easy (which it is) so he’ll make a decent stab at KS. If they want to back your son for KS they’ll need to put quite a lot of specialist work in. It is HARD, but Eton also wants to encourage boys to take it. Your son will have a head start on lots of the other boys taking CE3 when starting GCSEs.
• My son was nervous about being happy in College too, he articulated this as wanting a wider set of friends, however I think he was worried about the inevitable competition. Some schools allow academic scholars in other “normal” houses though (not sure Eton does?).

Could you begin the prep for KS with your prep school and see if he enjoys it, and make your decision from there? BTW there are some very bright Radley boys too, and it turns out lovely men, so if he decides Eton isn’t for him both are great options. Eton is obviously wonderful too though, and no need to be a KS to enjoy it.

Very easy solution to this.
He can sit the exam “honoris causa” which means he gets the additional challenge of the KS curriculum/exams but if he comes in the top 14 in the KS exam he does not go into College, but to the boarding house he holds an offer for.

The downside of this is that he (and his prep school) does not get the honour and glory of winning KS (if he is top 14 material which very boys are) but the upside is that he does not have to be in College.

His prep school may feel quietly disgruntled about this choice but they do not have a leg to stand on. Presumably their argument to you is that your son would be bored by CE and it’s in his best interests to be challenged - and this way he still will be.

Oh and to add - contrary to what @Totes41 said, it isn’t usually feasible to switch from KS (or any other scholarship) to CE part way through Y8. The reason for this is that although generally easier, CE requires set knowledge that the scholarships do not. Eg CE covers specific history periods and set texts. requires geography coursework and a French oral, etc. In general it is better to make up your mind whether to do CE or a scholarship by the end of Y7 and stick to the decision.

I have seen boys decide mid Year 7 not to proceed with KS and similar, but good point Ziegfeld that it isn’t ideal. Your solution is much better!

Most schools don’t have scholarship sets until Y8. So in most cases it doesn’t matter what you think in Y7, you just need to have decided by the beginning of Y8 when scholarship application forms for senior schools go in. After that it becomes difficult to change your mind.

Very similar position here - extremely bright child but definitely an all-rounder who loves sport more than school work. You have nothing to lose by doing a tour of College so go and see what you think of the house master. We did, but as we didn't really warm to the College house master, we then thought about doing the route that Zeigfeld suggested and keeping him in an Oppidian house.

We did get some very very good advice from a senior teacher at his school, which was that the KS is so demanding (think beyond GCSE) and requires such specialist teaching, that it would ruin his last year at prep as he would have to work so hard, and that it would also risk denting his confidence. There is also the risk that they do worse in the exam and end up in lower sets than they would have done if they'd done the CE. Also, boys can get awarded Oppidian scholarships after trials in F block, but as even that is just for kudos! So we don't see the point of even putting him through the exam and he'll be doing CE.

We have instead spoken to all his main subject teachers to make sure that he's stretched in lessons, and he's entering a couple of competitions instead to keep him engaged.

I'm not sure that I follow what a previous poster said about switching from scholarship to CE mid way through the year - maybe it's different at different schools but at our prep all boys study for the CE exams in normal lessons, with scholarship study being done in the additional sessions. So whether you can switch depends on the school.

You know your boy better than the school, and so you need to do what's best for him, not for the prep!

@ArtHistory I am surprised to hear that everyone at your prep school prepares for CE, even if they are not sitting it, as KS and Winchester Election are very, very different in form, content and standard. It’s a bit like the same person training for the 100m in the daytime and the marathon at night - it isn’t a great use of time and not many children could pull that off. I assume the reason is that there are not enough boys to form a scholarship set of their own.

Regarding sets at Eton - that is a red herring as there aren’t really any in F block except for maths. There is a theory that boys who do badly at KS maths do worse in their maths GCSEs but I suspect that is more correlation than causation.

I work in tutoring, so bear that in mind. The thing that usually settles this is letting him try the papers rather than debating the label. Eton publishes King’s Scholarship past papers on its admissions pages and its own prospectus suggests looking at them early; the exam is sat over three days in late April of Year 8 and is a set of compulsory papers plus a choice of options. Give him two of the compulsory papers, properly timed, and watch his reaction: a boy who lights up at that sort of stretch is a different proposition from one sitting it to please his school. Then put your real questions straight to Eton rather than to his prep: what an award would mean in practice for where he lives, and whether sitting KS commits him to anything if he is offered it. Schools do like the accolade, but his own response to the papers will tell you more than his CAT scores or anyone else’s agenda. Happy to answer anything else here.

@Edify123
I agree that an incumbent prep school isn’t necessarily the most reliable arbiter! Your idea about seeing what he thinks about some past papers is a good one.

However Eton already publish the answers to the questions you are suggesting OP ask. The school says that:

• If you come in the top 14 (it’s usually 14) in the KS exams you will be awarded a KS - unless either a) prior to sitting the exams you opted to take them honoris causa or b) they discover something that disqualifies you - for example that you sat for a scholarship at another school.
• If you are awarded a KS you must go into College, unless you turn it down and do not attend Eton at all. The days of being allowed to turn the offer of KS down and go into an Oppidan house are no more.
• If you opt to take the exams honoris causa, you won’t ever know whether your performance was in the top 14, you cannot win a KS and you will
• not go into College. Provided you have done well enough to satisfy the conditions of entry (ie equivalent to a CE pass) then you will go into the Oppidan house you already hold an offer for.
• If you are one of the small number of “hail Mary” candidates who sit the KS exams without having a conditional place at the school already, you can’t choose the honoris causa route.

Honoris causa is meant exactly for boys like your son, OP, who need more challenge during Y8 than CE offers but who would prefer to go into a more “all round” house than College.

Thank you all for such helpful and considerate responses. I hadn’t realised that you aren’t able to take more than one scholarship or that if you do indeed win a KS that you are obligated to go into College. This thread has been very helpful.

We will tour College but I already know in my gut that DS will want to be in an Oppidan house so perhaps the honoris causa is the right route. I’m just not sure our prep will agree! He has incidentally just sat a 13+ Core Maths paper this week in class (yr7) and his teacher contacted me to let me know he’d scored 99%. He clearly needs the additional challenge but I guess it’s how we dress it up.

I am still struggling to get my head around the benefit of these academic scholarships other than for prep school exit lists. When I was at school you’d get a decent chunk off the fees but these days they all just seem to be for the shine (and a name on a board at your prep). I highly doubt we’d qualify for any bursary so other than for stretch what is the value? DS’s prep has a scholarship set but due to extra classes in Greek etc he’ll be timetabled out of things he loves like art or the school play.

We’ve just received our two house selections to tour as well so the comparisons will be useful. Much to think about…

OP that is very sad about the scholarship set. I can’t believe that if you are doing a scholarship you can’t be in the school play or do art - that’s terrible!

If you don’t qualify for a bursary then academic scholarships are mainly honour and glory. In some schools they might put on some extra stuff for scholars too, but it’s fairly token.

Eton is unusual in that all the KS live together. There are some perks in that - they get a very grand dining room and (allegedly) better food. But, as a KS, you have a huge target on your back. If you get anything less than top marks in all your subjects you will feel a level of scrutiny and even criticism that non scholars don’t have. Also, being a KS was probably more prestigious in the days when the rest of Eton was not so academically selective. Ie, it was a sign that you weren’t there just because of who your family was. College and the rest of the school has changed a lot since then.

OP, your DS sounds like he's at a similar level to my DS was at the same stage (98% on a core paper in year 7). The Additional Maths paper is a lot more of a stretch anyway, and if you're not going to put him in College, then perhaps let him have a relaxed final year at prep? Don't let the school bully you - you're the fee payer so frankly it's not their decision. Boohoo that they won't get one more name for their lists - they should want what's best for the child! (Hothousing kids really gets my goat 😡)

It’s true Core results aren’t necessarily a good indicator for KS. (To put it in perspective, CE Additional Maths is not quite as hard as the KS Maths A (“easy”) paper and considerably less hard than KS Maths B.)

However that doesn’t mean your son ISN’T a good candidate for the KS process. I like @Edify123 ’s suggestion of showing him a few of the papers and seeing if he is interested by the questions. If so he could still get a lot out of the scholarship year, regardless of whether or not he actually wants to win one.

Some schools allow academic scholars in other “normal” houses though (not sure Eton does?).

Yes, there are Oppidan Scholars (OS) in the other houses.

@38thparallel is that an answer to a question on another thread?

In most schools, academic scholars on entry are spread across “normal”. houses. The only two I can think of which aren’t like this are Winchester and Eton. At the former you can win a scholarship through the Election process and end up in College OR a commoner house. At the latter, anyone awarded a KS must go into College.

OS is very different as it is a post entry award and thus has no effect on which house you are in.

@Ziegfeld

is that an answer to a question on another thread
It was answering Totes41 on this thread.

OS is very different as it is a post entry award and thus has no effect on which house you are in.
I’m out of date then as it must have changed. My ds sat the scholarship (which he didn’t get) but if he had he would’ve been an OS in the house to which he’d been accepted - not College.

OP take the house you like best and if he is bright he will top exams once there and likely get an OS. My nephew went in with a music award wasn’t in a prep but got an OS pretty quickly. I think you might have to place top 30 in exams 3 terms in a row (but I am not 100 per cent sure).
The whole point of the awards is to signal to unis that these are contextually the highest performing candidates. The unis favour the bursary students these days. They also favour the pupil premium students are grammar schools. It is an oddity of the system currently. I am sure it will change again.

It changed maybe 15 years ago. Since then the only way to get OS is via trials.

It changed maybe 15 years ago. Since then the only way to get OS is via trials.

Ah, ok, thank you Zeigfeld. So nowadays do fewer boys take the scholarship if it’s only for KS?

If there’s been any decrease in applicants (which the school would probably deny - they say it’s always around the 100 mark), I suspect that removal of the universal fee remission for KS winners would have had a bigger impact than no longer allowing scholars to enter Oppidan houses. But so hard to know because there have been so many other changes going on at the same time. The demographics of College have changed very significantly in the last 15 years.

Thank you Ziegfeld.